TYSELEY’S ‘Castle’ No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe has stepped in to deputise for ‘Hall’ No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall on Vintage Trains’ ‘Red Dragon’ (‘Y Ddraig Goch’) to Cardiff on March 11 after the g-word (gauging) raised its head once more.

The route would have taken the ‘Hall’ from Tyseley (Warwick Road) to Worcester Shrub Hill via Kidderminster, then on to Gloucester, Chepstow, Newport and in to Cardiff. However, Network Rail has deemed No. 4965 ‘out of gauge’ for the northern part of the route, resulting in the ‘Castle’ now being the rostered train engine.

“Network Rail informed us that No. 4965 is out of gauge at multiple locations between Tyseley and Worcester, so all the way to Cardiff seems out of the question,” Vintage Trains’ Ben Mason told The RM.

“The result is that No. 5043 is going to have to do extra duty in the next 12 months.”

The decision by NR represents another hurdle for the use of the Collett mixed traffic 4-6-0 over the national network; No. 4965 has already missed out on this year’s ‘Valentine’s Diner’ owing to gauging issues.

Read more in the March issue of The RM – out now!

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